Monster
by Apocalypto Magnos
Summary: There are some monsters that even the darkest shadows fear
1. Prologue - Darkness Falls

Monster

Intro

Darkness Falls

The air was deadly still, as though the wind itself had fled and hidden. No noise disturbed the shadowed trees. Despite the clarity of the night sky and the gentle chill in the air, not one nocturnal denizen stirred. The dark creatures that normally prowled the deepest reaches of the Everfree remained within their dens, trembling with terror and hoping they would not attract the attention of the far more vicious entity that lurked in their hunting grounds.

Suddenly, the sound of frantic, galloping hoofbeats broke the utter silence, accompanied by the rasp of terrified, gasping breaths.

She was darker than night itself, the majority of her body like a living black hole that devoured the light around her. A smoky mane and tail trailed behind her like smoke, billowing out from underneath glinting silver plates of armor. Her catlike green eyes held an air of promised vengeance and pain about them... or, at least they used to. Now they held only a look of pure, unadulterated terror within.

The living corruption known as Nightmare Moon galloped as fast as her hooves could carry her, eyes casting about in both desperation and fear as she searched for any sign of shelter or safe haven to protect her. Cold sweat beaded beneath her metallic helm, her rapid breathing broken by a small whimper. Countless leaves and branches flashed in her vision as she weaved through the trees, heedless of the small branches and bushes that scratched her as she passed or of the dirt and grime that had begun to build on her fur and armor. Further and further she ran, too terrified to stop for even the briefest moment.

A splash. Mud flew up from the ground, splattering against Nightmare's coat, but though she shivered from the sudden chill, she did not slow. A particularly sharp thorn buried itself into her shoulder, but the mare still ran onward, ignoring the thin line of red that had appeared down her side. The dark mare was barely aware of the stinging in her shoulder or the chill of the cold mud. There was no room for anything but fear and desperation in her mind.

Nightmare Moon's wings twitched as she contemplated taking flight once again, her panic stricken mind momentarily forgetting what happened when she tried it earlier. When the memory finally returned to the forefront of her mind, her wings snapped back against her side. No. No flying. _Definitely_ no flying, not while... _it_ was after her.

Then it happened.

One of the dark alicorn's hooves struck a root, tripping her up and causing her to tumble end over end and slide to a stop in the clearing. She did not rise, but simply lay in the mud, grass, and fallen leaves. Her eyes were shut tight and her wings were slightly extended but limp against the ground, and her soiled sides heaved with small choked sobs. The once feared Nightmare Moon now looked like nothing more than a pathetic, terrified little filly.

She opened her eyes with a start, sensing she was not alone, and was greeted with the sight of... shoes. Normally nothing to be afraid of, and in this case they themselves were nothing frightening. Their _wearer_, however, was an entirely different story.

Slowly, haltingly, Nightmare's hesitant gaze drifted upwards to a pair of pale, hairless legs, then to the rough shorts that the being wore, and the chain that hung on them. From there, she looked up to the torso and arms hanging at its sides; arms as thick as tree trunks, with hands like giant meat hooks, and a bare chest and stomach rippling with unbelievable amounts of muscle.

At last, her gaze reached the horror's head. Its true face was hidden, (if indeed it actually possessed one to begin with), by a grinning, bleached white, skull-esque mask. The left eye socket of the mask was pitch black, leaving it unknown whether or not there was even an eye there. It's right eye glowed a blazing gold that pierced the fallen alicorn's very soul. The Monster glared down at Nightmare Moon, its one visible eye devoid of anything but cold conviction.

Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and tremors ran rampant through her body as pure horror and despair overtook her. Tears welled in her eyes. She tried to scream, but only a tiny, pitiful plea escaped her.

"...P-please..."

The Monster wordlessly took a step towards her. Nightmare Moon's tears began to flow freely.

"N-no...no...p-please, no..."

It took another step. The mare's voice began to grow louder, more desperate.

"I'm b-begging you, don't... p-please..."

As it stepped yet closer, the Monster's gaze intensified even further. Nightmare began to scoot herself backwards with her hooves.

"P-please, g-g-give me a chance! Don't do this. Please d-don't do this!"

All too soon, the dark mare ran out of room. She backed into a tree, and immediately shrank down with the realization that she was trapped. The Monster loomed over her, its gaze as unblinking as it was murderous. There was absolutely no doubt as to its intentions. The Monster began to lean down, its enormous hands slowly reaching for her like giant meat hooks.

Nightmare Moon's panic leaked out of her as the horror grabbed her head and lifted her to its eye level. Despair and resignation replaced it. What could she do against Death? She'd tried fighting. She'd tried fleeing. She'd tried hiding. None had managed to slow it down in the slightest. Nothing could stop it. She looked into it's one visible eye as it held her, tears flowing freely down her face.

"Why?" she sobbed. There was no more begging, just horror, fear, and despair. "I-I'm not a th-threat to them anymore."

The Monster did not answer. It only glared into her eyes without a single iota of pity.

"I s-spent a thousand y-years on the m-moon," she continued, though her body slumped as all hope of survival disappeared. "Is...I-is that not enough?"

Still the horror did not speak, but it continued to stare at her. In that, the shadowy alicorn found her answer.

Without ceremony or prelude, the Monster _squeezed_ its hands together. The Nightmare's hooves flailed wildly and she screeched in agony. The dark mare's scream only intensified as audible cracks sounded and her helmet began to twist and warp. Thick red liquid began to leak from the corners of her eyes and where the Monster gripped her. As the punishment reached its apex, she screamed so loudly her throat began to bleed.

_Crunch_.

The incredible force being applied to the mare's head finally caused it to implode, showering everything nearby with blood, skull fragments, and brains. The now headless corpse collapsed to the ground in a heap. It twitched once, twice, and went still. The Monster looked down at the body without an ounce of pity or regret, and did not budge from its position. It was not time to leave...not yet.

The blood dripping from the tree trunks and leaves nearby halted its motion, as did the life fluids soaking into the ground. Immediately, the sanguine liquid around it began to flow not where gravity directed it, but towards the Monster. Blood poured even from the open neck of the late Nightmare's body, quickly draining its dead vessel. As it reached the creature, the liquid began to crawl up its body in a series of macabre channels until they reached the mask, where they seemed to just... disappear, as though the mask was feeding on the blood.

Within moments, the area surrounding the Monster was green once more, the only unusual feature being the dehydrated, headless equine corpse and the occasional bone shard. Rick Taylor turned away and began to walk deeper into the Everfree forest. A hundred fearful eyes peered at him from just beyond his field of view, but he ignored them completely, not sparing them even the slightest thought. As he walked, the shadows began to thicken around him as the canopy of trees overhead became denser and denser. Despite himself, Rick thought back to Nightmare Moon.

He still felt not the slightest hint of regret. He had given her many warnings, and she simply chose to ignore them. Hunting her down had been far from a split-second decision. The moment Princess Luna had become corrupted, even before her sister was forced to banish her, the Nightmare's fate had been sealed. Rick had been waiting in that ancient castle when she returned. He'd been there to see her challenged and defeated by the Elements of Harmony. He waited there for days afterward, unseen by all, until at last she grew bold enough to return to physical form, likely thinking that he'd forgotten about her.

The dark alicorn very quickly discovered how acute his memory was.

That moment a thousand years ago, the moment Nightmare Moon decided to ignore his warnings, had taught him something. For millennia, he'd been nothing but a myth to the inhabitants of this world, a make believe creature, the masked monster that hunted other monsters. Not one denizen of Equestria knew much about him, appearance included. Countless legends had been based on him, some with more truth than they were given credit for, others fraught with misconceptions and untruths. For the longest time, Rick had been perfectly content to leave it that way. There had been no need for him to remove any doubt of his existence.

But that was back then. This was now. It seemed that in this day and age, a myth was no longer enough. He'd faded from a terrifying, legendary Monster to an intriguing mythical creature from a time long passed.

Rick continued his stride, the darkness eventually swallowing him whole. Even his glowing eye disappeared. Soon, it became clear that he was no longer present within the Everfree. He had simply...disappeared.

A legend was no longer enough, he would cease to be a creature of legend. Soon Yvithagn, the Avatar of Death, would become very real.


	2. Phase 1 - The Masque

Monster

Phase One

The Masque

_From the Abyss he comes above,_

_With not an ounce of mercy or love._

_Soul stealer, heart seeker, terror of the night._

_Dare ye not to test his might._

_Seek ye not to hide from his sight._

_Night and day he walks among_

_Those of old and those of young._

_From time of times he has sought_

_Those who by sin their souls he bought._

- excerpt from _Humai Mnikeil_ ("Death from the Deep") by Mnakoum nir Hbirim, translated from Zebrican

* * *

The Canterlot City Art Museum. Cadence was certain there could be no better way to relax than to spend the day admiring the works of Equestria's most magnificent and talented artists. Well, excluding spending a day with her husband, but he was a bit busy today.

Shining Armor. Her _husband_. Whoo! That thought still sent shivers down her spine.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza casually trotted through the halls of the museum with a relaxed, pleasant smile on her face, occasionally stopping to admire a particularly well done painting or sculpture. Only a few other ponies were present, because it was a weekday. This was the very reason she was there now and not later, no need to worry about crowds. Those present all knew who she was, of course, and most greeted her or congratulated her on her recent marriage. However, none were nearly as starstruck by the pink alicorn as they would be by one of her aunts. She was quite happy with this, actually. Sure, she was a princess and essentially the avatar of Love, but her notability paled in comparison to that of alicorns that ruled over the day and night. So while ponies nearly always recognized her, they rarely flocked to her as they did with Celestia and Luna. As long as she avoided more crowded areas, she would be almost entirely free from harassment.

The pink alicorn suddenly paused, then slowly backtracked to the doorway she had just passed. Cadence was a semi-regular patron of this museum, and she had every detail of its layout memorized. She knew how the art was organized, what kind of art was displayed where, and which areas were closed off and empty.

During her last visit, this particular area had been empty, with a sign displaying a "coming soon!" sign detailing a 'Deities and Demons' exhibit. The area had been closed off for the better part of a year, and the scaffolding and various other materials within had lain unused for so long that she had started to think it would just remain that way forever. Apparently that wasn't the case, since the expansive room was now fully painted and covered wall to wall with paintings, drawings, and sculptures of the many depictions of gods and other divine creatures made throughout history. There were ancient clay pots and weavings from Zebrica, paintings - both contemporary and Renaissance-era, - from a number of famous Equestrian artists, Minauran sculptures, and even a few Griffonian works.

However, there was one corner of the exhibit that drew her attention the most.

Her smile fading somewhat to a more neutral expression, Cadence cantered into the room and over to the opposite end, where a sub-exhibit had it's own little alcove. The back wall of the niche was covered by a noticeably enlarged copy of a painting, lit from multiple angles by dim spotlights to enhance its atmosphere. On the bottom of the picture's frame was a small bronze plaque.

_"Abyss" - by Horidius Ponifex Lovecolt, 246 BC_

Cadence had to admit, the name was quite fitting. The painting was dominated by swirling red and orange brushstrokes that were clearly meant to resemble fire. At the center was the most intimidating alicorn the princess had ever seen. It stood atop a small mountain of bones containing at least one skull of every sentient race on the face of Equis. Its coat was the color of dried blood and rust. Every inch of its body rippled with more muscle than any living thing should rightly possess, yet it remained proportional despite it. It's wings were spread wide, noticeably lacking of a normal alicorn's feathers and instead being webbed and leathery like those of a bat.

The most intimidating feature of the image was undoubtedly the alicorn's head. Stretching across its face was a mask that looked as though it were made from the bleached skull of some monster. The grinning mask seemed to leer out on the world with a malevolence and violence all its own, while it's extensions that wrapped around the alicorn's head made it look like it was painfully clawing its wearer's face. A glowing yellow eye leered down from the mask's left eye socket with a cold, judging violence. The right socket was dark. The small trail of blood running from it like tears seemed to suggest that there was no eye there at all.

It was not the only image of the menacing creature in the sub-exhibit. The alcove held examples from multiple civilizations that depicted similar entities. There was a Zebrican wax drawing depicting a massive zebra with an identical mask standing before a number of other zebras, each bowing to it in fearful submission. Next to that was a sculpture of a similarly masked, red-furred minotaur that held a pair of battleaxes crossed in front of it. Then there was a more modern Griffonian drawing that depicted a masked griffon standing in a dark forest, reared up on its hind legs with one claw clenched and held next to its side as though winding up for a vicious punch; it's other, bloodied claw was reaching forward, as though the creature sought to crush its observers. There was even an ancient carving of a masked dragon that stood on its hind legs like a minotaur.

Cadence, like any educated pony, knew right away what all of these works depicted; Death, Yvithagn, The Human, or at least each civilization's take on the creature. She noticed an article in front of the alcove that appeared to be some professor's thoughts on how every single race's take on the avatar of Death was virtually identical, and about how even the most isolated nations had practically the same word for 'death' in their native languages; "Hviamal" in Griffon, "Humai" in Zebrican, etcetera. She didn't read it, though. She knew quite a lot about this particular _"coincidence"_ already.

_"Mm mm mm, now that is impressive, I gotta admit...inaccurate, but impressive."_

The voice was impossibly deep, unmistakably masculine, seemed to echo from everywhere at once and yet from nowhere, and held an underlying menace to it that would make most ponies wet themselves in sheer unadulterated terror. Cadence, however, didn't react beyond giving a light frown.

_Since when did you become a connoisseur of the arts?_ she thought towards the no longer dormant presence in her mind.

_"Since just now, and it'll stop once we're done lookin' at these little beauties right here."_

Cadence's frown deepened. By now she was completely accustomed to the voice's shenanigans - being forced to deal it twenty-four seven ever since she was a little filly had more than a little to do with it, but being used to something was much different than liking it.

_"Besides,"_ the presence continued with more than a little teasing in its tone. _"I think a better question is, since when were you so interested in death, fire, and blood? I always thought you were more into pink hearts, rainbows, an' all that faggoty, puke-y cute shit."_

At this, the pink alicorn scowled and readied to snap back at the presence, both for the comment and the language that went with it, but suddenly stopped short. A look of mild confusion crossed her face as she looked back up to the painting of the rust red, masked alicorn. Why _was_ she looking at this? Confusion changed to mild horror. _Why wasn't she freaked out by this?_ The presence had been entirely correct in the spirit of its comment, if not the language, Cadence despised art with darker themes, yet here she was staring at a whole exhibit full of it like it was hypnotizing her, _and she had absolutely no problem with it_.

Forgetting all about responding to the question asked of her, Cadence backed away from the painting of Yvithagn, looking at it with more than a little suspicion and now a bit disturbed by the fact that she didn't find it...well...disturbing. This was practically a shrine to _Death incarnate_! This kind of thing should have been nightmare-inducing, yet she found it impossible to find even the slightest negative sensation directed towards it. Why?

_"Well now, that _is _a good question."_ The voice did not sound serious in the least.

Cadence's suspicion flared further, this time directed towards the presence in her mind and joined with a not-so-slight anger.

_Yes it is,_ she thought sourly. _What did you do?_

_"You think _I _did something? Little ol' me? You wound me, Cady."_

_Cut the crap and answer my question._

_"Oooh, such unladylike language! Have I touched a nerve?"_

_I swear..._

The voice gave a chuckle, then did the mental equivalent of putting its forehooves up defensively. _"Cady, c'mon, re_lax_. I'm just jokin'. I didn't do anything, honest."_

_I find that hard to believe._

_"And I really don't give a fuck,"_ the voice shot back with an easy mental shrug. _"It's the truth. Ain't my problem if you don't believe me."_

The alicorn glared at seemingly nothing in particular, though her thoughts made it clear who it was directed towards. The voice gave a sigh, but finally became more serious.

_"Alright, alright,"_ it relented. _"Stuff like this has happened before without you freaking out like this, so I'm guessing something's changed. Was it during your honeymoon?"_

_You're in my head. Why don't you just look for yourself?_

_"Nuh-uh, no way in _hell_. I know what goes on during honeymoons, and I'd like to keep my firsthand knowledge on the subject as limited as possible. There's a reason I took that week long 'vacation' from you, thank you very much."_

Cadence gave a brief smirk despite the situation, but resisted the urge to comment on that matter. She quickly grew grim again.

_It...It's been happening more and more often. Everything will be perfectly normal, and then I just...I don't know...start feeling different. I'll see something, or even say something, that I normally wouldn't like, and then feel absolutely nothing negative about it, like I suddenly don't mind anymore. It's almost like my personality is starting to change itself..._

The voice _hmm_ed quietly. It seemed oddly...subdued, completely unlike its normally bombastic, boisterous self. Seconds ticked by, soon turning into dozens, then going on into a minute. Still the presence did not answer.

_...Well?_

_"Not a clue,"_ was the immediate and cheerful (almost suspiciously so) answer. _"Seriously, Cady, don't you worry yer pretty little head about it. I'm sure it's nothing."_

The pink alicorn frowned, not at all convinced. However, there were two facts about the presence that she was quite familiar with. First, if it decided it did not want to tell her something, trying to pry would just end with her being red-faced and frustrated. Second, despite how much it seemed to enjoy embarrassing and teasing her, the voice had shown that it genuinely cared for her well being, though that may have been nothing but it's own self preservation instinct, since it inhabited her mind. Whatever the case, if the problem was truly something life threatening, it would tell her.

Cadence glanced at the "Abyss" picture uneasily, then shook her head lightly in an attempt to clear her thoughts. She turned to leave, deciding it would be best to save the rest of the exhibit for another time.

With her back now turned to the many forms of The Human, Cadence never noticed the golden yellow glow that manifested within the minotaur statue's left eye. She did not see its head turn ever so slightly to regard her. She never saw how it gazed after her, its masked countenance somehow seeming...concerned.

* * *

Night fell. The sun lay below the horizon, replaced in the sky by the pale moon and twinkling stars. In the land below, the many ponies, griffons, dragons, and other denizens of Equis readied for their hours of nightly rest...

Most of them, anyway.

For some, the day was just beginning. The majority of these nocturnal beings were merely animals of the night; bats, owls, and the like. Others were simply among the few civilized beings to be active only in darkness; night guards, graveyard shift nurses, and their ilk. A few, however, were a far less virtuous sort. They used the night to hide their deeds, accomplishing their iniquitous work under cover of darkness.

Rick Taylor knew that the house before him was a den of the latter sort.

There were no other homes for miles in any direction. Where there would normally be neighbors, there were acres of manicured lawn instead - a practiced eye would quickly note that this was not because of mere aesthetics, but rather so that no one could approach unseen. The property closer to the house at its center was walled off from the rest of the world, with a heavy iron gate as the only entrance and exit. Inside the barrier was a house just as luxurious as it was large. The light within suggested active occupation, and the many carriages outside evidenced the entertainment of more than a few guests, while the presence of armed sentinels spoke of their paranoia and hinted at their less than virtuous nature.

Rick walked up to the house unmolested by those guards. The majority of them were in too many pieces to bother him anyway, and the rest lay glassy eyed on the ground in pools of their own blood - pools that became eerily deformed as they seemed to reach out towards the hulking Monster that approached the front door.

The man stopped short of the metal door, seeming to size it up for a moment. Slowly, he raised a hand and pressed it gently to the door. Then with a sudden surge of power, he _shoved_.

A thunderous _BANG_ echoed through the house as the door was torn from its hinges, skidding loudly on the floor for a few feet before slamming down on the floor. The masked human ducked his massive bulk through the open doorway and into the building.

He was greeted with the sight of dozens of utterly flabbergasted expressions.

For a few seconds, everything was frozen in time. The lounge area just beside the entrance was filled with a number of guests. Multiple ponies and griffons, both male and female, were frozen in the midst of pleasant drinking, conversation, and general polite merriment. Mixed among them were a number of heavier set stallions and male griffons in suits, most likely additional guards.

Pure shock remained in the room, but soon it was not alone. Recognition began to dawn on the faces of the house's occupants, accompanied by disbelief, mind-numbing horror, bowel-voiding terror, or some combination of the three.

Though the majority of the patrons were frozen with terror and surprise, a unicorn guard seemed to snap out of his stupor. His horn glowed dark blue. A sword surrounded by an aura of a similar color emerged from the scabbard on his side. In a move that was undeniably intelligent against such an obviously superior opponent, albeit futile, the unicorn elected to throw the weapon rather than charge. The blade was sent sailing through the air with all the telekinetic force that the guard could bring to bear. It twirled end over end, seemingly with the risk of hitting with its hilt rather than the cutting edge. However, the guard's aim was true, and the blade struck the Monster with its pointed end. The aim proved not merely true, but impeccable; the sword was buried to the hilt at the exact point where the Monster's heart was located.

Rick did not fall to the ground dead. He did not yell out in pain. He did not even grunt in pain. He did not flinch. He did not even bother to _look_ at the profusely bleeding wound in his chest. For a brief second, all he did was give a nightmare-inducing stare to his attacker, then he reached up to grip the sword impaled into him. He removed the blade with a sickening _squelch_, still not moving his attention from the unicorn. The bleeding instantly stopped as the offending object left. Once it was completely removed, the wound was completely gone. Only the red liquid staining the floor remained as evidence that there had ever been one.

The Monster then cocked his arm back like an olympic javelin thrower and, with impossible strength and speed, threw the now bloodied blade back at its owner. The unicorn did not even have time to draw his last breath. Faster than an eye could blink, the sword plunged into the pony's forehead at just the right angle to cleave his horn in two before entering. The blade pierced skull and brain and skull again, punching through the back of the guard's head to pierce his back, bisecting a portion of his spine.

The stallion went rigid, then relaxed and flopped limply to the ground as blood began to leak from his lethal wounds.

Pandemonium.

Ponies and griffons alike screamed and bolted for the nearest exits; back doors, windows, any opening large enough to fit them. But they found the doors stuck closed, and despite their best efforts, no one could open any of the windows or even break them.

The Monster charged forward with great, loping strides.

One white-coated unicorn had not moved. Unlike those around him, who still screamed in terror and ran to and fro in their attempts to escape, he remained in his chair, frozen in wide eyed horror as the masked Monster approached him. Rick reached out with one hand as he passed and grabbed the fear-stricken pony by the head. Tossing him briefly into the air, the man grasped one of the stallion's back legs, holding him in a way all too similar to a one-handed grip on a baseball bat.

Wading into the small, panicked crowd, Rick swung his arm back and forth, using the unicorn he held as a makeshift bludgeon. Bones shattered. Blood fountained into the air. Ponies and griffons alike screamed in pain and terror. A pegasus mare was flung into a wall with such force that she went completely through it, turning nearly every bone in her body to powder. A griffon was crushed into a bloody smear on the floor by a titanic overhead strike. Another was thrown headfirst into the solid marble fireplace, splattering everything nearby with gore and cracking the stone.

Through all the horror, the violence, and the abundance of death, the Monster remained completely silent. He said not a single word, did not make a single sound. He was a cold, merciless avatar of bloody murder. With each blow, another died, their last sensation being of utter terror and indescribable agony, their last sight being that of a grinning skull and a single glowing, piercing eye.

Then, as quickly as it began, it was over.

Death reigned. Blood lay across every surface; the reclining chairs, the sofa, the tables, the floor, and the walls. Corpses and pieces of corpses were scattered all across the room. Those few still intact enough to possess faces were frozen forever with looks of untold fear, horror, and agony. At the center of the carnage stood the Monster, Yvithagn. The broken body of the weaponized unicorn stallion lay discarded at his feet. Blood was smeared all over him, so thick on his hands that he almost appeared to be wearing dark red gloves. Slowly but surely, the crimson fluid splattered throughout the room began to flow towards him. It traced its way up his body to be absorbed by the mask he wore... but not all of it. Not this time. After a minute, the flow halted, though blood was still quite prevalent in the scene. Rick himself, however, was rendered completely clean.

The Monster turned. He was not the only living creature present. Just before him, practically at his feet, was the prone form of a gray earth pony mare with an image of a treble clef on her rump. Her coat was matted and soiled by sweat and blood, though none of the latter was her own. Her full, illustrious mane was disheveled and drooping. The mare's eyes and tears were traced by running makeup, and she quivered and shook with terror. She looked up at Rick's covered face with terrified eyes, her pupils had shrunk to fearful pinpricks.

Rick's golden eye glowered right back.

"P-please," the pony quietly begged. "I...I-I-I d-didn't want any p-part of this."

The glare did not waver in it's intensity.

"P-p-please, you m-must believe me."

Still the Monster kept up it's piercing gaze. The mare's voice began to grow desperate.

"I-I didn't have a choice! If I d-didn't do what they wanted-!"

The Monster clenched its hands into fists.

"I w-was f-f-forced into this! P-please, believe me! I-I had no-..."

She trailed off as fresh tears began to fall down her face. Despair began to fall over her as the Monster's fists clenched tighter. But then, just as she expected it to reach for her, its gaze suddenly...softened? Yes, the Monster's glare disappeared! It's hands relaxed, and it looked into her eyes with an intense, but now also merciful, gaze. It looked at her for a moment longer, then turned and walked away.

Octavia gazed after him for a second, afraid that he would change his mind. He strode over to the stairwell to the second floor of the house, and began to ascend without giving her a second glance. Realizing that it had no intentions of killing her, the earth pony lowered her head into her forehooves and began to cry in hysterical relief.

Rick continued up the stairs until he reached the second floor of the house, which consisted solely of a corridor lined with multiple doors. He walked down the hallway until he reached the third door on the left. From inside, he could hear the sound of whispering and pitiful whimpers. The door handle was locked, and was wrapped by heavy chains and a padlock in addition to that. Rick picked up the lock, causing the chains to jingle. The sounds from inside instantly stopped. For a second, there was silence.

Rick began to squeeze the padlock. The iron groaned and creaked, quickly warping out of shape. The metal soon reached its limit and broke in half with a deafening _CRACK_, snapping a link of the chain in the process. Both halves clattered to the floor, followed shortly afterwards by the chains. The man then grasped the door's handle and waggled it. No good. He tried harder, dipping into his reserves of superhuman strength. Still nothing. Deciding it would need to be broken, Rick _yanked_ on the handle, ripping it right out of the door.

With nothing left to hold it closed, the door began to slowly, slowly creak open, eventually revealing five frightened faces gazing out at the towering Monster in the doorway; two belonged to griffon chicks, and three to fillies. One of the griffons was clearly older than the other four, but still no older than a teen. She held her wings over the group like a protective mother hen, giving Rick a look that was afraid, but determined all the same. She clearly had no intention of allowing harm to come to the other younglings. Four other pairs of eyes peeked out fearfully from the eldest griffon's wings. Rick could see that they clutched at one another with fear. Aside from the younger griffon, he identified a small white unicorn with a curly pink and purple mane and two pegasi fillies; one bright pink, the other dark blue.

Rick continually looked from one face to another, his expression otherwise unreadable beneath his mask. He took a step into the room, but stopped when the elder griffoness tightened her wings around the four younger children and gave a barely audible growl at the back of her throat, despite the growing terror dancing in her eyes. He remained still for a moment, then slowly dropped to one knee and extended a hand out to the five.

They appeared collectively surprised by this move. Each of them looked hesitantly from his hand to his face and back again. They seemed more uncertain than afraid now. Rick remained in that position, waiting.

A hesitant, shaking hoof exited the safety of the teenage griffin's wings. The gryphoness tensed and looked down in surprise as the white unicorn cautiously took another step outside her safety net, then another, then another, each just as shaky and frightened as the last. She approached the hulking man with wide eyes, ready to bolt back to the wing cocoon behind her at a moment's notice. Rick remained unmoving. He watched the carefully approaching filly, but did nothing else.

The fear-filled trek eventually reached its end. The small pony looked down at Rick's massive hand, not entirely sure what to do next, but not quite as nervous as before. The filly looked up at his face with uncertainty. He gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod. The unicorn looked back at his hand and hesitantly put a forehoof on it, then another. Her back hooves soon followed.

Careful not to startle the young filly too much, Rick slowly stood up straight, carrying her with him. She gave a surprised squeak and visibly tensed when he moved her to the middle of his forearm, cradling her against his chest. She relaxed after a moment and gave him a weak smile. He looked from her to the rest of the group, who now looked at him more in wonder and awe than fear. He gave them a small, slow nod.

Something else lighted their eyes then. Hope.

* * *

The Carousel Boutique was dark. It had been so for days now. The "closed" sign had not been switched out once during that time. Dust was beginning to gather on the disasterpiece of clothes and materials inside, and its owner made not a single solitary attempt to remedy it.

Rarity sat at the epicenter of the mess, softly illuminated by the moonlight. Her normally immaculate mane was wild and unkempt. Her coat, normally the image of perfection, was ruffled and matted. She sat with her eyes closed in the silence and shadows. Depression hung about her like a cloud, but she did not cry. She could not cry even if she wanted to, not anymore. As long as it had been since-

_BANG BANG BANG._

The unicorn's ear twitched, but she did not otherwise react. Who would come knocking at this hour? Twilight? No, she was concerned for Rarity, sure, but she wouldn't come around this late, would she? Fluttershy? Not unless she was taking lessons from Iron Will again. Applejack, maybe?

_BANG BANG BANG._

Rarity's ear twitched again, this time in irritation. Didn't everypony see that she wanted to be left alone? Why couldn't they just leave her alone with her mis-?

_BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG._

The white mare's eyes snapped open and she directed a positively murderous look towards the door to her boutique. She got up and cantered over to the door, her ears lowering as she did so. Her horn glowed, and a purple aura wrapped around the doorknob, whipping it open with an audible _whoosh_ as she approached. As the door opened, she took in a breath to yell at whatever foalish pony had decided now was a good time to bother her.

Rarity's scowl became a look of confusion when the door opened to reveal... nopony... nopony, that is, until she looked down. The breath she'd taken escaped as a light wheeze, and her eyes became as wide as dinner plates.

Sitting outside the Carousel Boutique, beaming at her with an innocent smile, was a very familiar unicorn filly with a curly pink and purple mane.

"...S-...Sweetie Belle?"

"Sorry if I woke you up, sis," her little sister said, her smile turning a tad sheepish. "The, uh, door was locked."

It took a moment for everything to click. Once it finally did, a wide smile split Rarity's face and unshed tears of joy shimmered in her eyes. She quickly ran out and snatched up Sweetie Belle in a tight embrace. The younger pony returned the gesture with a girlish giggle. For a few minutes, the two sisters stayed that way, embracing while the elder quietly wept with happiness.

After a while, the two separated, both still teary eyed, as Rarity looked at her sister with no less relief, but with confusion added to the mix.

"Sweetie, I don't understand. I thought... I heard... How did you-...?"

"A monster saved me," she said with absolute honesty, smile never leaving her face.

Rarity gave a sniffling, teary-eyed laugh. "A monster saved you," she repeated with disbelief.

"Yep!" Sweetie Belle nodded enthusiastically, then pointed across the street with a hoof. "He's right over there."

The elder unicorn followed her sister's gaze with a questioning expression coloring her features.

"That's wierd," Sweetie commented. "He looks different now."

Rarity did not answer, and could not have answered if she tried. Her lower jaw was a bit preoccupied with dropping to the ground.

Across the street, gazing at them with a single glowing eye, was a massive, muscular, rust red alicorn wearing a ghoulish-looking mask.


	3. Phase 2 - Sight Unseen

Monster

Phase Two

Sight Unseen

"Yvithagn - the avatar of that which is unspoken and unspeakable - looked down upon me. I returned it's gaze, and I felt the walls of reality begin to crumble around me. I stared into the pool of molten gold that lay beneath its mask and saw many great and terrible things, things that nopony was ever meant to see. I saw a yawning Abyss, darker than even the deepest pits of tartarus. I saw the dreams born of dead gods, and cosmic energies that defied mortal comprehension. I saw the doors where our world ends and the Other begins, and the dark void that lies between what is said and what is understood. I saw all of these, and they haunt the dark corners of my mind to this day."

- Horidius Ponifex Lovecolt, _Beast with a Human Heart_

* * *

_Princess Cadence's ears were plastered to the sides of her head. Her gaze darted back and forth nervously. Her hoofsteps were slow and cautious, making nary a sound. All around her were the bones of a long abandoned town. The houses and shops all seemed like those in a place like Ponyville... or at least what they would look like after the Apocalypse. The buildings looked like they'd been abandoned for decades at least. Most of the windows were broken, especially the larger ones, while any glass that remained was so grimy and caked in dirt that it was difficult to identify as such. Everything else was also deteriorated and neglected, and all was silent and empty._

_It was spooky, but normally would have been nothing more than that. There was something about this place though, something... wrong._

_The sky overhead was mostly clear, with only a few scattered slivers of cloud marring it, yet rather than bright blue, the skies were a light gray as though it was overcast. High above, the sun and moon met and crossed in an incomplete and unmoving eclipse, the dim and pale light of the sun still shining from behind the black disk of the moon. A unending breeze swept through the town. It wasn't quite cold, and it felt like little more than a caress. But with the gray skies and dilapidated scenery, it felt unbearably ominous._

_Cadence continued her slow pace through the town in a somewhat hunched position, ready to bolt at the first indication of trouble. Near complete silence reigned, the only sounds being that of her own frightened breaths and the light scuffing of her hooves in the parched dirt. Despite the emptiness that pervaded the abandoned village, she felt as though a thousand eyes were watching her from the shadows; silent, callous, and hungry. The alicorn didn't dare call out to see if anypony remained here, there was too great a risk that she would draw much unwanted attention to herself if she did. Flying seemed like an equally unwise choice, and she certainly couldn't stay put. This left her only one option, walking._

_A light scuffle sounded from off to the pink alicorn's left, making her stop dead in her tracks. She turned her head ever so slowly towards the sound with wide eyes and splayed ears, knowing full well that she would regret looking. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, giving the princess a nervous sense of anticipation tempered by fear. Agonizingly long seconds passed as her gaze continued to slowly, slowly pan towards the source of the noise._

_The princess' eyes widened with shock as she beheld the creature standing before her. That thing was...it was-!_

Cadence opened her eyes with a start. She snapped her head up sharply in a mild panic, but quickly settled down. It was too dark for her to see anything, but nonetheless her surroundings were infinitely more familiar than they had been mere seconds before. She was lying on a soft, plush bed with the covers pulled up nearly to her chin. Underneath that she felt forelegs wrapped around her in a warm embrace, and the deep, even breathing of her sleeping husband, Shining Armor.

Princess Cadence lay back down and shuddered, suddenly aware of the cold sweat that had evidently covered her while she slept. Her short, quick breathing began to slow and grow even again. A dream. It had only been a dream. A very foreboding one, for sure, but still merely a dream nonetheless... or was it? Could it have been a premonition? Dreams telling of the future were not unheard of, particularly among beings with an above average affinity for magic, like alicorns. Cadence was thus no stranger to them. However, they had always been of a happy nature, and while some foretold events that mattered to her personally, Cadence could always sense that they were not really that important when it came to the world at large, even if she could not discern their meaning.

This dream, however, was much different.

Cadence knew better than to take it at face value. Dreams were always heavily laden with symbolism, whether they were random nighttime productions of the mind or true predictions of the future. It was very unlikely that she would suddenly find herself in some long abandoned town during a solar eclipse. But what could else could it mean? She thought to the presence in her mind. Maybe it would know the answer...

As she reached out towards the voice, she made the wry observation that it would almost certainly know the answer. It really wasn't a matter of whether or not it knew, but whether or not it was willing to divulge the information it had on the subject.

The alicorn gave the voice a soft mental prod, then waited. A few seconds passed. No answer. She tried again, a little harder this time, and waited. Still no answer. Cadence frowned and briefly considered trying a third time, but quickly decided against it. She knew by experience that the voice was always perfectly aware of her attempts to get its attention. It clearly didn't intend to talk to her, and continuing to attempt to convince it otherwise would undoubtedly prove futile.

Cadence frowned somewhat. That was unfortunate. The voice was undoubtedly the most knowledgeable being she could go to for information, albeit tight-lipped at some of the most inconvenient times. If it wouldn't answer, who else could she ask? The alicorn thought for a moment.

Well, it was obviously still night, so her Aunt Luna would be up and about, and as the alicorn of the night, she knew a lot about dreams and premonitions. Maybe she would have the answer. Maybe...

The pink alicorn yawned widely, and her eyes began to droop. The adrenaline from earlier had begun to run out, her body was beginning to remember how late, (or early), it was, and she was beginning to drift off to sleep once more. Part of Cadence argued that this was much too important an issue to put off, but she ignored it. It wouldn't do to try and puzzle this out in the dead of the night and end up exhausted the next day. Her questions would have to wait until morning.

With the matter decided, Cadence snuggled deeper into her embrace with Shining Armor, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

* * *

"Cady."

The alicorn shifted in her sleep and muttered something incomprehensible, but then went still again.

"Ca~ady."

Frowning a bit now, Cadence clenched her eyes shut tighter and gave a slight groan. She shifted again, then squeezed the fuzzy object she was holding closer to her.

"Oof! Cady, honey, c'mon, we need to get up."

The bundle of soft fur extricated itself from Cadence's grip. Unwilling to completely leave the embrace of her slumber, she groaned again and flipped over to face the other side of her bed. A second later, the sound of sliding cloth reached the alicorn's ears, then a blindingly bright light shined into her eyes. Though they were still shut, she saw white through her eyelids.

"Rise and shine, hon."

Cadence picked up her pillow and put it over her head with a slurred murmur of "five more minutes." Just as she began to slip back into the world of dreams, a loud voice shouted inside her mind.

"_Yo, pinky! You heard him, get your sorry ass up!"_

_Ugh... Fine..._

With a sigh of resignation, the pink pony lifted the pillow away from her head and sat up with a yawn. She rubbed her eyes a bit, then carefully fluttered them open. A familiar smiling face and blue mane greeted her, framed by sunlight flooding through the now open curtains behind him.

"Morning, Cady," Shining Armor greeted cheerfully, before giving his wife a light peck on the lips.

"Mornin', Shiny," Cadence returned, giving him the closest thing to a smile she could manage so soon after waking up. The alicorn yawned again. "Shiny, it's saturday. Why are we getting up so early?" Her husband gave a small chuckle, his smile never faltering.

"Early? Hon, it's almost eight. If we don't get up now, we'll miss breakfast."

Cadence glanced over at the clock hanging from the wall of her bedroom. Indeed it was almost eight, seven fifty-six to be exact. She flopped back down on the bed with a sigh. Shining Armor looked at her with a somewhat amused expression, but left her alone and trotted over to the door to their bathroom. Cadence simply lay there for a while, beginning the long and arduous process of fully waking up, as was her typical morning routine.

This particular goddess of love was many things, but a morning pony was _not_ one of them.

"_Aw, is li'l Cady havin' trouble waking up? I can help with that, you know..."_

It took a moment for the voice's threat to click. The second it did, Cadence bolted up and out of bed with a look of mild panic. She swayed a bit as a wave of dizziness hit her from moving so quickly, but it passed.

_I'm up! I'm up!_

A deep chuckle reverberated in her mind. Cadence's panic faded, replaced by mild annoyance.

"_Uh huh, thought so," _the presence said, its voice tinged with amusement. "_Now that you're up, I suggest you shower, get froo-froo'd up or whatever the hell you call it, and head down to breakfast. Day ain't gettin' any younger, and Luna's not a fan of havin' somebody wake her up once she hits the sack."_

_Sure thing, mom, _the alicorn responded with an annoyed roll of her eyes. She started heading towards her bathroom, but halted mid motion after a few steps. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

_Wait a minute, you know what I'm going to ask her?_

"_I'm kinda in your head, Cady. Have been for a while now, in case you forgot."_

_Then why can't you just answer my question yourself?_

Silence. At first Cadence thought it was just a pause, but when a minute passed without an answer, it was clear that the voice had no intention to. She scowled, but resisted the urge to badger the presence into talking. She'd tried that before, and it never worked. Frankly, she wasn't sure why she asked in the first place. The voice never answered questions pertaining to its identity or nature, and it only ever revealed the barest hints about them in normal conversation.

For the longest time, its refusal to say who or what it was worried the princess. She couldn't help but wonder if she was possessed by some demon. But there had been innumerable opportunities for the presence to take control of her, and it had helped her multiple times. If it really was a demon, it wasn't very good at its job.

Cadence frowned and huffed a bit to blow a stray lock of her mane out of her face. She continued cantering over to the bathroom as the sound of the shower started up within.

_You know, one of these days I _will _get a straight answer out of you._

To the pink mare's surprise, the voice spoke back to her.

"_You can count on that, Cady. You can definitely count on that."_

* * *

The dark undertone present in that answer made a cold chill run down her spine.

One shower and morning meal later, Princess Cadence found herself within her night-ruling aunt's bedchamber.

The room was not really all that large for a ruling princess' bedroom, but the cavernous, domed ceiling overhead gave the impression that it was much more massive than it appeared. There were no windows or light crystals. All illumination was provided by a roaring fireplace and a number of unnaturally bright (likely enchanted) candles instead. Decoration was provided entirely by the dark tones and smooth design of the furniture and carvings on the edge of the walls, as the room lacked paintings of any kind.

Cadence stood near a corner of the room, just behind Princess Luna, who was sitting in front of a short dresser with a mirror mounted atop it. She was bare of the usual regalia; her thick metal necklace was replaced by a blue bathrobe, her silver hoof slippers replaced by ones of a fuzzier variety.

"So," the dark blue alicorn began, looking at Cadence's reflection in the mirror with kind but somewhat tired eyes, "How do you fare, mine niece? You have encountered no... 'trouble' with your dear husband, I hope?" Her niece's cheeks lit up with a blush when she caught Luna's meaning, in turn causing the elder alicorn to smirk.

"Huh? O-oh no no no, it's nothing like _that_," Cadence replied hurriedly, studiously ignoring the snickering in her mind. "Shining and I are doing just fine, auntie. I need some help with a more obscure issue."

Luna spun around on her stool to face the younger pony with a look of concern etched onto her features.

"Obscure? Whatever do you mean?"

"A dream. I had a very... unusual dream. It might be a premonition, but I don't know for sure, so I figured I'd ask you."

Luna gave an understanding nod. "Tell me."

Cadence took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts, then said all that she remembered from her dream. When she finished her account, Luna leaned back somewhat with a thoughtful expression. Cadence could almost see the gears turning in her head.

"Is that all?" the night princess asked after a moment. "Did you not see what sort of creature lurked in the village?"

"I... I think I did." Cadence's brow bunched as she tried to recall what she saw. "Yeah, I'm sure I did, but I can't seem to remember..." She visibly strained in her attempts to remember, but to no avail. The dream hadn't ended before she got to see the creature, whatever it was, but for some reason she just could not remember what it looked like, or even if it had seemed friendly or malevolent. It was almost like something was blocking the memory.

"Then I am almost certain it was a premonition. They are rarely so forward as to reveal their object so easily," Luna said. Cadence waited... and waited... and waited, but Luna did not continue. Frustration started to grow when she did not continue.

_I'm getting real sick of this real fast._

"And...?" she encouraged, impatiently waving a foreleg in a 'go on' gesture.

"_And_ there is no way for me to know the object of this foresight, nor what event it points toward," Luna obliged with a somewhat apologetic expression. On seeing her niece's slightly frustrated look, she added, "Dear Cadence, do you recall my knowing of your previous dream-related conundrums before you even approached me for help?"

The pink alicorn hesitated, then nodded. She had not thought about it before, but in the past her aunt _did_ always seem to know what she wanted to ask before she asked it, at least when it came to any issue pertaining a dream. She had the feeling she was about to find out why.

"My domain is that of the night, and by extension that of dreams," Luna continued. "Whenever the Aether releases a dream that tells of the future, I am made aware of it. Though I do not know exactly what those dreams contain, I can perceive their general purpose; hints of what they mean, if you will. However, the Aether is not the origin of all dreams. Some can rise from other sources, ones beyond my power. When a pony dreams a dream from outside the Aether, I cannot glean any information from them."

_So in other words, you can't help me_, Cadence thought, her ears drooping with mild exasperation. _Great, just _great_. Nopony knows more about dreams than Aunt Luna, so now the only being capable of helping me is my would-be conscience, possibly the most unhelpful one in existence._

Despite knowing perfectly well that the voice wouldn't answer her thought, the young princess hoped for a moment that it would. But just as she expected, it remained silent, as it likely would for quite some time, if past experiences told her anything. Whenever the voice went quiet, it would stay that way for hours or, on a few rare occasions, days at a time.

Cadence gave a somewhat exasperated sigh. "Oh... well... thanks anyway, I guess. Sorry for keeping you up, Aunt Luna." The alicorn stood and turned to leave. Luna frowned slightly at her niece's retreating form.

"Cadence, wait." The pink mare paused and looked back at her bedrobed aunt, who in turn gave her a concerned look. Clearly the issue was bothering the younger alicorn more than she originally thought. "I will... consult with my sister. I cannot promise that it will help, but she just might know something that I do not."

"Thank you," Cadence replied with a slight smile, then she continued to the door as her aunt went back to getting ready for bed.

Then, just as she sent a small surge of magic to her horn to open the doors, Cadence paused. She blinked once, twice, three times, then looked around, confused. She blinked again and shook her head lightly.

That was strange. For a second it had almost seemed like...

Cadence shook her head again and continued through the door. Her eyes were probably just playing tricks on her. The dim lighting in Luna's chamber could do that easily. Yeah, that must be it, just a trick of the light... or so she hoped...

* * *

_Ding ding ding._

Rarity's ear perked at the chime of bells, the signal that somepony had just entered her boutique, most likely a customer. The light creaking of the door soon followed, accompanied by the soft sound of hoofsteps approaching.

"Just a moment, darling. I'll be right with you," the white mare called without looking up from her work. Her mane and coat had been returned to their normal, impeccably manicured selves, and while her store was far from spotless, it was now filled with the ordered chaos that had practically become Rarity's signature. All that marred the boutique's owner herself were the almost intangible lines underneath her eyes, though she was bright and chipper despite them. Losing a little sleep was to be expected when one closes their shop for nearly a week and allows orders to pile up, after all.

"Aaaaand... there," Rarity finished the stitch she had been working on. After a quick inspection to ensure nothing was amiss with the dress, she set her materials down and turned to greet her customer with a polite smile. Standing before her was another white unicorn mare, one with a light pink mane rather than a purple one. She held an air of authority and regality about her - probably a member of some noble family seeking a dress or somesuch for a formal event. Rarity knew the type, they were the most common kind of customer.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique," the mare greeted with a dramatic flair, raising a foreleg to enhance the effect. "I am Rarity, proprietor of this establishment. How may I assist you on this fine morning?"

"I could ask you the same."

Rarity's smile froze, and she blinked a couple times in confusion. That voice...

"Princess?"

The other unicorn's horn glowed gold, and an aura of similar color settled around herself and the blinds above the large windows at the front of the boutique. The telekinetic aura on the blinds pulled them down over the glass, and the store immediately darkened somewhat from the sudden lack of natural light. Meanwhile, the aura around the pink-maned unicorn grew brighter, until only her silhouette could be seen. This in turn grew and reshaped itself. Her horn grew longer, a golden tiara appeared on her head, feathery wings appeared on her back, and her mane began flowing about in the air as though blown by an omnipresent wind. The light eventually faded to reveal that the anonymous mare was none other than Princess Celestia.

Rarity's jaw worked for a few moments without uttering a word, while her pupils shrunk. Then a synapse connected somewhere and the mare snapped out of her stupor to give a deep, hasty bow. The radiant alicorn gazed down on her with a small, benevolent smile.

"Rise, my little pony," the princess commanded softly. The fashionista quickly obliged.

"Princess, I... I-I wasn't expecting to see _you _of all ponies in my humble little shop. Not that it's a problem, of course!" The flustered unicorn cringed and glanced at the piles of cloth, string, and half-finished clothing around them, then shook herself slightly and managed not to have a panic attack over the mess. It was a little late for that kind of reaction now, and it would have been quite unbecoming of a proper lady to react that way in the presence of royalty. Besides, if Celestia cared about it, she would have said something, right? The unicorn returned her attention to the radiant alicorn.

"Ah, but where _are_ my manners? Could I interest you in some tea, Princess?" Celestia's answer was a smooth nod.

A few minutes later, the two ponies sat at the table in Rarity's dining room with cups of freshly made tea, the still nearly full kettle sitting on the tray between them. For a moment, the two sat in silence. One of Celestia's eyebrows rose slightly as she took a sip.

"I am surprised you didn't ask," she stated simply once she put the cup down again. Rarity blinked once, then understood her meaning.

"Oh, yes, well, I thought it improper to pry," she replied a little sheepishly, adjusting her mane. "I'm sure you had very good reasons for being disguised, and if you wanted to tell me, you would tell me. For all I knew, you just wanted a break from all the stress of royal politics." Celestia smiled briefly, but then her expression became grave.

"Much as I wish that was the case, I donned a disguise for more serious reasons." The princess set her teacup down. "To be specific, I am here to inquire about the events surrounding the abduction and return of your sister, Sweetie Belle."

"_That_ business again?" Rarity's expression became unpleasant for a moment, until she remembered who she was talking to. She quickly returned to a more neutral expression and tone. "I thought that was all taken care of, at least as far as it pertained to my sister."

"As did I," Celestia returned honestly. "But then something else - or some_pony_, I should say - came up." A pause. "Are you familiar with a pony named Octavia?" The other mare's ears perked at the name.

"Octavia Sturnn? Oh yes, I've been to some of her solo concerts. She's quite the talented cellist,I must say. It's quite a shame she went missing. I hope the poor dear is alright." Rarity gave the princess a questioning look. "... _Is_ she alright?"

"She is," Celestia said with a nod. "Octavia showed up at the main Guardspony office in Fillydelphia two days ago; shaken and nearly hysterical, but otherwise unharmed."

Rarity nodded, but she was quite confused. She could put two and two together, of course - obviously Sweetie Belle and Octavia had been ponynapped by the same ruffians, else the princess wouldn't have mentioned it. But what could possibly be so special about the situation that _Celestia herself_ moved in to inquire further, rather than one of the Royal Guards? She even disguised herself so she could move in without being noticed, at that!

The princess saw the questions in Rarity's eyes, and spoke before she could ask them.

"Corporal Mace's report said that you mentioned seeing someone the night Sweetie Belle was returned to you. Is that correct?" The unicorn answered with an affirmative. "What did that pony look like?"

"The Human," Rarity immediately answered with a roll of her eyes. "Quite the cliche disguise, if you ask me. Oh, it surprised me at first, there is no doubt about that, but I quickly realized just how utterly ridiculous it was. Really, if this... _vigilante_ wanted to be thought of as some supernatural criminal hunter, she was better off going with Mare-Do-Well than some old, dusty legend that everypony knows doesn't exist."

Rarity's tone and expression were confident. However, that quickly changed when she saw Celestia's expression.

"Erm... Princess...?"

The alicorn's expression was more grave than she'd ever seen before. Celestia carefully leaned down until her head was level with the unicorn mare's.

"Rarity, there is much that I must tell you," she said in a low, deadly serious voice. "But first you must tell me everything you remember about the pony you saw, and promise not to tell a single soul _anything_ about what we are about to discuss. Do you understand?" A pause, then the unicorn fashionista nodded warily, with no small amount of trepidation dancing in her eyes. "Do you promise to speak of this to nopony?" Another nod. Satisfied, Celestia rose once more and took a deep breath to gather herself. When she spoke again, her tone remained serious, as did her countenance, but it held much less of a steel edge to it than before.

"Good. Now, what do you remember about this 'vigilante'?"

* * *

"Lyra, I'm heading over to the spa, now," Bon-Bon called from several rooms away. "I'll be back in a couple of hours, alright?"

"Mm-hm."

Lyra Heartstrings gave her absent minded reply without looking up from the book hovering in front of her face. She sat on her couch in what one would think was a rather uncomfortable position for a pony. Rather than simply sitting on her haunches the way most ponies would, she sat back on her rear with her hind legs dangling off the front of the cushion. The mint-colored unicorn read from page to page with a look that was halfway between complete neutrality and moderate boredom. This changed, however, the moment she heard the semi-distant _slam _of the front door closing behind Bon-Bon.

The mare's eyes widened, then narrowed as her ears perked up and swiveled back and forth like radar dishes. Her ears strained for a moment in the sudden silence, then relaxed slightly. The coast was clear... but she couldn't get up just yet. Lyra decided to wait for a few more minutes, just in case her housemate forgot something and needed to come back.

A minute passed. Then two. Then three. Then four... Eh, good enough.

With eyes still narrowed and scanning back and forth suspiciously, Lyra slooowwwly closed the book and set it down next to her on the couch. Not a second after her telekinetic aura faded from it, she dashed from her awkward sitting position and galloped to the other end of the house, up the stairs, and into her room. She quickly shut and locked the door behind her, standing with her back against it on her hind legs with wide eyes and carefully listening ears. Satisfied that no one was lurking outside the door, the green mare dropped to all fours and used her magic to yank the cord hanging from the ceiling. The light crystals in the ceiling activated with a soft _snap_, revealing a cozy, medium sized bedroom. Lyra trotted over to her neatly organized desk and sat down. She magicked one of its built-in drawers open, revealing various files and folders; tax forms, licences, financial records, and other mind-numbingly boring but unfortunately necessary items... but that wasn't what she was looking for.

The unicorn removed a large stack of papers from the drawer, revealing a large, visibly aged book with gilded patterns running along its edges. At the top of the book was its title, written in jagged, ominous looking letters.

_Beast with a Human Heart_

She removed the massive novel with a small grunt of effort and set it on her desk with an audible _whump_ that sent a small cloud of dust into the air. Fanning in front of her to clear the air a bit, Lyra looked back into the drawer at the item hidden beneath the ancient book - a yellow file folder that looked similar to the others present, but with the word "classified" stamped on it in bold red letters. The mare lifted that out as well and opened it, removing the paperclipped documents within and setting them down beside the book. The first page was a rather official looking report. It had the Celestial Seal printed on the top left of the paper, and its Lunar counterpart on the right. In between them were the opening lines of the Royal Guard's report:

_Name: Second Sergeant Lighthammer Garm, Lunar Guard, 1st Battalion, 2nd Squad_

_Case Report: The Fillydelphian "Splatter House"_

_Report Filed: Saturday, 1st of the Seed, Year 3 AR_

_Notes: Do not recommend review shortly before or after eating._

"Thank you, Mace," Lyra said to herself with a self-satisfied smirk. She was a longtime friend of that particular guard, the two had been close ever since preschool. That remained unchanged even now, though they could not talk face to face nearly as often as when they were foals, what with him always volunteering for extended patrol rotations - he evidently liked the extra pay. Nonetheless, she and Hammer still occasionally did favors for each other. In Lyra's case, it typically took the form of getting records that were autographed by famous musicians. In Corporal Mace's case, well... suffice to say, it wasn't uncommon for the pegasus stallion to voice his worry over her 'obsession,' but he would still do what he could - keep an ear out for anything that could hint at supernatural activity, get her reports that _technically_ she shouldn't have access to (as long as it wasn't too important), that kind of thing.

The mare's grin widened. Oh, Mace had certainly been a skeptic for a while, just like so many other ponies, (Bon-Bon included, much to her chagrin), but that changed pretty fast after he saw that Fillydelphia report, the one Lyra had in front of her now. Normally, he drew the line at classified "guards' eyes only" documents, but he had been quite willing to get this one for her, much to her surprise and excitement. The only thing that kept Lyra's glee in check and prevented her from giving him a great big "I told you so!" was how incredibly uneasy and disturbed he was by the contents of that case file...

Lyra's grin immediately turned upside-down, but she quickly shook it off. There would be time to think about that later. Chances are Mace would come to her on his own anyway, and with a laundry list of Human-related questions that he wanted answered. When that happened, she would explain everything to him. But again, that was later. This was now.

The unicorn took a breath to gather herself, then unclipped the pages of the report from each other. She reached towards the book with a foreleg, intending to open it so that she could compare and contrast the various notes of the file with those of HP Lovecolt. However, she froze the moment she made contact with the cover.

A cold shudder ran through Lyra's body, beginning at the hoof in contact with the ancient tome on her desk and progressing all the way to the tip of her tail. She looked around her room nervously, but otherwise remained unmoving. Confusion soon joined her newly jittery demeanor. Her room had not changed in the slightest. The walls were the same color, as were the posters and other pictures hanging from them. The light crystals were shining just as bright as before. Her bed was the same, her desk was the same, so was her closet, and her mirror... it was all the same.

She shivered again, but went back into motion. She opened the book, readied a sheet of blank paper and a pen, and set to work. But she was not nearly as focused as before. Other thoughts nagged her from the back of her mind.

Nothing had changed about her room, she could tell. But for a second it felt like... like...

For a third time, Lyra Heartstrings shivered. It felt like somepony, or rather some_thing_ else was in the room with her, watching her with burning eye.


End file.
